Astral Points
Astral Points, or AP, are the points used to level your character in SA. Leveling up a character increases the power of their Blessing, earns rewards from their rank or Talent, allows them to adopt Familiars, and unlocks character slots for you! AP is tracked per-character, not per-user. Whenever you earn AP, you must decide which of your characters will receive it! AP is counted on your character's Astral Tracker, an essential piece of SA gameplay that is submitted at the same time as your character. Keeping an updated AP Tracker allows you to claim your level rewards, outlined below! Earning AP You earn AP by completing and uploading art, roleplays, literature, memes and checkpoints featuring your character (or other SA characters / NPCs). Every SA character you include in your work earns AP, and the points can be given to any of your characters, no matter which characters are featured in the work. You do not earn AP for drawing / writing characters who are not yet in the group. NPCs earn points in three instances: when they are an official Group NPC, when they are connected to your own accepted character, and "random" horses in the background of comics/scenes/etc who are unlikely to be seen again. Artwork Earnings AP earnings for visual art. Background and shading 'effort' measured against the average piece in your gallery. Detailed, rendered "props" or borders can count as backgrounds. Gradients, blank colors or extremely blurry backgrounds do not. Photomanips require all images used to be clearly and obviously modified- cut/paste photomanips will not be accepted. These numbers apply to: Drawing and painting (digital or traditional), pixel art, and photomanipulations. * Headshot (50% or less of the body is showing) - 1 AP * Full Body (51% or more of the body is showing) - 2 AP * Simple BG - 1 AP (Little Effort) * Full Bg - 2 AP (Medium Effort) * Complex BG - 3 AP (Great Effort) * Effort Shading - 1 AP for headshots, 2 AP for full bodies (per character) Special Circumstances: * Comics - Each Panel is treated as its own piece, repeated backgrounds will not earn points * Repeated Lineart - Halved points after first use. Cannot receive shading points after first use. * Chibis - Halved points. Cannot receive shading points. * Animations - case by case basis, looked at by admins. Blinking, ear twitches, bouncing and snorting don’t count for animation points. Please include number of frames in your upload info. * Tracing (from credited stock photos only) - Halved points for headshots and full bodies * Hyperrealism / Photorealism '''(Example): 4 AP headshots / 8 AP fullbody. Must be shaded. * '''Roleplay Inspired Bonus (must include two posts in description and link to roleplay): +2 AP * NEW! Anatomical Detail Bonus '(applies to anatomically correct wings, high-coverage (40%+) detailed scales, intricate fins (think lionfish, not shark) etc.): +2 AP, can stack * ''NEW! '''Gift Art Bonus (Art must not feature your own character, and be focused another member's character. Cannot be a commission/trade, true gifts only. Headshot and FB batches are OK): +2 AP Literature Literature must be uploaded to DeviantART, in a format of your choice (no sta.sh or Google Drive files, etc). * 300 words: '''1 AP * AP per word remains constant. Word counts on checkpoints, memes, etc will be updated accordingly. Collaborations Includes artwork and roleplay threads. Calculate the AP of the collaboration piece like normal, and then calculate the correct percentage to get AP. In the case of decimals/fractions, round up. Collabs should be submitted to the group by only one member. * '''Two person collab / roleplay: 80% of total AP * Three person collab / roleplay: 50% of total AP * Four person collab / roleplay: 30% of total AP Tracking AP Before You Upload Include, at the top of your artist description: * The work's AP count * The character receiving the AP * The "breakdown" of the AP ("2 shaded fullbodies", "600 words" etc) A piece's AP count cannot be modified after being accepted into the group, unless the art itself is modified and the piece is resubmitted for approval. Modifying AP counts after acceptance is cheating and will result in a strike. The Astral Tracker Don't be whacky, just get tracky AP Levels Here are the perks your character receives as their AP level increases! Every time your character reaches an even-numbered level, they gain 10 Skill Points to any stat. * Level One (5 AP): Accessories can now be purchased from your herd's Shop! * Level Two (20 AP): '''Catalyst items can now be purchased from the Magic Shop! (+10 SP) * '''Level Three (40 AP): Receive a Talent for free! * Level Four (60 AP): Level 1 Familiars can now be purchased from the Familiar Shop! (+10 SP) * Level Five (100 AP): First Blessing can be received, a choice of two selected by your patron Deity! * Level Six (140 AP): First Blessing can be chosen, if you don't have one! (+10 SP) * Level Seven (180 AP): First Blessing is now Level 2! * Level Eight (220 AP): Receive second Talent for free! Level 2 Familiars can now be purchased from the Familiar Shop! (+10 SP) * Level Nine (260 AP): First Blessing is now Level 3! * Level Ten (300 AP): First Blessing can be received, a choice of two selected by your patron Deity! Holy Blessings can now be applied for.(+10 SP) * Level Eleven (340 AP): First Blessing is now maxed! * Level Twelve (380 AP): Level 3 Familiars can now be purchased from the Familiar Shop! (+10 SP) * Level Thirteen (420 AP): First Blessing can be chosen, if you don't have one! * Level Fourteen (460 AP): ''' Second Blessing is now Level 2! (+10 SP) * '''Level Fifteen (500 AP): ''???'' (Send a Note with Character's AP Tracker to the group!) * Level Sixteen (540 AP): Second Familiar slot unlocked! Own two familiars at once! (+10 SP) * Level Seventeen (580 AP): Second Blessing is now Level 3! * Level Eighteen (620 AP): RP with your character's patron deity! Note the group for details! (+10 SP) * Level Nineteen (660 AP): Receive a special accessory from character's patron deity! * Level Twenty (700 AP): Second Blessing is now Maxed! (+10 SP) __NOEDITSECTION__ Category:Gameplay